Bush wants mental illness coverage parity

The Washington Post And Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — President Bush on Monday called for legislation this year requiring employer health plans to treat mental illness like other ailments, as he launched a two-day western swing devoted in equal parts to his "compassionate conservative" agenda and to raising money for Republican candidates.

"Mental disability is not a scandal — it is an illness," Bush said to applause from psychiatrists and others at the University of New Mexico. "And like physical illness, it is treatable."

Later in California, on the 10th anniversary of race riots that devastated Los Angeles, Bush told a revival-like meeting of black, white, Latino and Korean-American Californians he aims to follow their model for turning despair into hope.

"My job as the president is to rally the spirit of the nation," Bush said Monday at a church hall about five miles from the flash point of the riots.

He drew parallels between the rebuilding in Los Angeles and the spirit of harmony nationwide after Sept. 11.

"And yet out of this violence and ugliness came new hope … to show the rest of the country what is possible, what can happen in America when people put aside differences and focus on what’s best for all," he said.

"Oh, I know there’s pockets of despair that just means we’ve got to work harder. It means we can’t quit, it means we’ve got to rout it out with love and compassion and decency," he said.

Earlier Monday in Albuquerque, Bush threw his weight behind the idea, if not the details, of legislation guaranteeing equitable insurance coverage for mental health services.

He called for giving "all Americans who suffer from mental illness the treatment, and the respect, they deserve." Bush praised the efforts of Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who has championed the cause despite opposition from conservative Republicans in the House.

Though providing few specifics, the president made clear that the subject would become a key part of his proposals to help the poor and needy.

Domenici, with Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., is lead sponsor of legislation that would require employers of more than 50 people to treat mental health coverage the same as other health coverage for purposes of out-of-pocket expenses and limitations. Domenici and Wellstone would include the full range of more than 200 mental illnesses, but GOP House leaders object to such broad coverage as too expensive.

Bush, whose aides are seeking a way to hold down costs without an explicit limitation on which diseases are covered, appeared to waver between both arguments.

At one point, he said: "Our health insurance system must treat serious mental illness like any other disease," but he suggested that was also Domenici’s position. While arguing that it is "critical" to "provide full mental health parity," the president said it must be done without "significantly" increasing health care costs.

Congressional estimates have said Domenici’s legislation would increase costs by about 1 percent, and some lawmakers favor exemptions if employers can prove that their costs would increase by greater amounts.